Production year 1961 A country Great Britain Genre drama, melodrama words Tagline "The story of an American woman and her abandonment in Rome" Director Jose Quintero Scenario Gavin Lambert, Jean Reed, Tennessee Williams Producer Louis de Rochemont, Lothar Wulff Operator Harry Waxman Composer Richard Addinsell Artist Herbert Smith, Pierre Balmain, Beatrice Dawson Installation Ralph Kemplen World Premiere December 25, 1961, Vivien Leigh plays aging stage star Karen Stone, who has just failed in a role more suited to a young woman. She decides to take a vacation in Europe, but bad luck continues to haunt her. Her rich husband falls ill and dies on the way to Italy, but she still comes to Rome. When the widow confesses to her friend Meg that she would not refuse a man's company, she introduces her to a high-society pimp who finds a handsome young man for the widow - an Italian. Karen falls in love with a young man with the most unfortunate consequences for herself.